


Take a Hint

by xlamentcasx



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky has a babushka doll that sleeps in his closet, Clint Is a Good Bro, F/M, M/M, Possessive!Bucky, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson is a Gift, Steve goes for long runs when he's nervous, but its ok because of reasons, manipulative!bucky, mentions of Peggy/Steve & Sharon/Steve, needy!bucky, the Carter gals wear red lipstick and like to imagine its the blood of their enemies, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-04-23 23:35:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4896589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xlamentcasx/pseuds/xlamentcasx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one could ever mistake subtly for his strong suit.<br/>He may as well be James 'Obvious' Barnes.</p><p>or</p><p>Where Bucky gets the help of 56 pigeons to stop Steve going out on a date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my friend Rumy (holahydra) on tumblr.

Steve notices her towards the end of the funeral. Her blonde hair is tightly bound up in a neat bun, catching the light in a sea of grey, black and white tones. Her outfit is all black except for her bright red lipstick and the bright red flower pinned to her pocket.  
It’s the only colour he’s seen since he arrived, it makes him think of another pair of bright red lips pressed tight against his own in the back of a speeding car and he thinks to himself that Peggy would’ve liked it.

They finally bump into each other at the wake, once Steve has managed to dodge all the high ups wanting to shake his hand and ‘express their sincere condolences’.  
By bump into each other, of course, means that Sharon has been steadily manoeuvring her way through the throng, like a naval warship parting the reluctant waves, for the past half hour to reach him.

Stopping in front of him, she tilts her head and gives him a slight smile, “Captain.”

He nods, “Neighbour.”

She laughs, loudly, causing those nearby to stare at them and then give them a wide berth. Steve feels his shoulder muscles loosen, her laughter is a breath of fresh air after hours of hearing only the sounds of grief.

By the time things are starting to wrap up they’ve made plans to go for dinner and drinks whenever they’re both next available. Steve has told her that his schedule with missions is unpredictable since the fallout with Hydra but Sharon assures him she can be very ‘flexible' and her accompanying wink makes the tips of his ears turn pink.

It's a long trip home by the the time people have dispersed and security has relaxed enough for him to slip away. The echo of laughter and the ghost of a smile he'd been hanging on to is far from his mind by the time he finally makes it back to the apartment.

Steve's hands feel heavy as he unlocks the door and he has to fight to urge to collapse inside it, a quiet voice greets him from the shadows, “How was it?”

He shrugs, “It was…Big. Everybody who was anybody turned out for the ceremony.”

Bucky moves into the hall light, “How are you holdin’ up?”

Steve shrugs and his movements of hanging up his things slow until he stops moving completely to sag against the doorframe, “Pretty damn lousy Buck. I still can’t…After all this time I still see her…"

“Hey I know, I get it, I know.”

Bucky’s arms wrap around Steve’s shoulders, shifting his weight from the doorframe to be supported against him. He’s careful to rest his warm hand against the back of Steve’s neck, “I can still see her too. I remember.”

He registers the warmth of Steve’s breath against his collarbone and feels a shudder run though him, accompanied by a slight sob and a loud sniff, before Steve is moving upright out his hold to clap hand on his metal shoulder, “Thanks…it means a lot to have you here with me, now...after everything.”

Bucky nods and watches Steve walk away towards his room, the words are in his mouth before he can even process them, ‘I’m with you, till the end of the line.”

Steve stops dead and puts a hand up against the wall for a moment, his voice is quiet and heavy with some unidentified emotion when he responds, “Yeah Buck, I know...”

They don’t talk again until the next day.

***

Steve’s only been home from a mission off the coast of Kenya for a day and he’s breaking his post-mission behaviour patterns. It makes Bucky nervous.  
Since coming home he’s carefully restructured his life around Steve’s. After carefully cataloguing his behaviour patterns and re-learning how to interact with the world through his interactions with him, it’s disconcerting to have him suddenly deviate from the structure Bucky has come to rely on.

The day after he comes home Steve is supposed to actively seek relaxation, its an interesting paradox that Bucky finds endearing, where he makes sitting down on the couch to read the newspaper look like a contract job. He’ll follow an itinerary of ‘leisure activities’ for the whole day, as a part of the unwinding process his friend Sam Wilson has actively encouraged him to practice.

Today however Steve has been jittery, like he’s anticipating something and Bucky doesn’t know what so he’s on edge. It gets to mid-afternoon before he finally snaps, “Goddamnit Steve you’re pacing around the place like a wild animal trapped in a cage!”

Steve freezes mid-stride and looks at him with startled blue eyes, “Oh…Uh, sorry Buck. Guess I’m just a bit, I don’t know…Wound up…”

“Why?”

“Why?”

“Yeah 'why', what are you a fuckin' parrot? You’re makin' me nervous Rogers, you just got home and this isn’t your…You’re not acting right."

Steve gives him an odd look, shakes his head and clears his throat, “I’ve got a date.”

“A date?”

Steve huffs, “Now who's the parrot...yes a date, with Sharon. You remember? My neighbour?”

Bucky’s nose wrinkles, “I remember, the broad who was actually a SHIELD agent?”

Steve raises an eyebrow at Bucky's word choice, "Yeah, well we ran into each other at the wake and got talking and I just, I dunno. Thought maybe it was time?”

Bucky bites back the scathing retort that leaps to the tip of his tongue regarding to supposed ‘timing’ of this reunion, “So you’re going out then?”

“Well just dinner and drinks, we agreed that whenever I was home from a mission and she was free we’d try to get together for it.”

Bucky nods and although he thinks he sees something in Steve’s eyes, like he is watching Bucky for his response, they don’t discuss it any further.

However, as the hours pass he finds himself growing more and more desperate, time ticks down, getting closer to Steve’s date. He finds himself in the bathroom staring blankly into the mirror when he see’s it, reflected over behind his shoulder and the idea hits him. The shower.

He hasn’t showered since returning home to live with Steve after an intensive recovery period spent in The Tower, showers having been quickly identified during his recovery as a massive trigger for a panic attack. Something to do with being hosed down with a cold water pressure hose before and after missions and occasionally for punishment.

He can’t believe he’s really going to do this. Is it really so terrible Steve’s going on a date? Then he thinks about holding a tiny 13 year old Steve in his arms while he coughed until his throat bled, about the crease in Steve’s brow when he’s drawing, about the way he still folds his socks like his Ma used too when they were kids, about how his smile lights up the place and then he thinks about how Steve’s voice was the one to call him home from years of absence inside his own head. Yeah, he decides it’s terrible.

With that, he steps into the shower and turns on the water.

He’s not sure when he started screaming, probably around the time the shower had begun filling with steam and the faces of old Hydra agents had started to appear in it. Steve’s voice comes out of the fog, “Bucky, Bucky! It’s me, Steve! Come on buddy I need to calm down…”

Bucky slowly registers that he’s put a hole in the tiles with his metal fist and that he’s lying naked on the shower floor, shaking like poisoned dog. He also notes that Steve is on his knees beside him, his wrist caught in an iron grip in his human hand. Bucky has regained enough of his cognition to be grateful it’s not his metal hand or he might have broken bones.

“What were you doing in the shower Buck? I thought we’d established they were a no go?”

“I know, I just…I thought, it’s been so long. I wanted to try…”

“It’s ok I get it, come here.”

He uses Bucky’s grip on his wrist to pull him in close, ignoring his nakedness to wrap the towel he had in his other hand around him. The words are more of a whimper when they escape from his trembling lips, “Don’t leave me?”

Steve scoots further forward and wraps his arms around him, tight and careful, “Of course I won’t. Shush Buck it’s ok, it’s ok I’m here, I’m not going anywhere…”

Bucky leans into Steve’s chest and tries not to hate himself for the shiver of relieved delight that runs through him.

***

The next time Steve comes in to tell Bucky he’s going out, he’s prepared, “Steve come on! You can’t go! We’ve got a bro night planned for this evening. Wilson is coming, even that Thunder God you’re so fond of.”

“What? Bucky you hate social gatherings?”

Bucky stifles his pride, allowing his brow to crease into what Steve fondly refers to as 'thundercloud formation' and pouts, “It was supposed to be a surprise…”

He tries not to smirk at the way Steve melts at the prospect of a surprise gift intended for him, it’s been his weakness since he was eight years old and Bucky ‘surprised' him with a new drawing pad.

"Ok, well I’ll call Sharon, I’m sure we can re-schedule…”

Inside his head, Bucky does a wild fist-pump.

***

After a mix of impromptu 'bro nights’ organised with the help of Sam Wilson, planned and paid for ‘vacations’ to a little town outside of New York where Bucky and Steve found a pub they loved, and various other methods of date evasion, things return to a reasonable level of normality. This is mainly due to it becoming obvious that Steve and Sharon’s free time doesn’t always align. Steve’s past two rotations home, she hasn’t been available, which lulls Bucky into a sense of false security. An error that is only made possible by his re-adjustment to civilian life.

Which is why he is taken by surprise when he looks up from his book upon hearing Steve abruptly throwing his drawers open. It sounds like he’s in a rush searching for something. He sits up, an odd feeling in his gut making him suspicious, “You lose something in there Rogers?"

Steve answers when he emerges to grab his jacket from the back of the lounge and heads for the hallway, "Sharon’s conference got cancelled, so she’s free tonight. I have another recon in two days, so we’re going to a place nearby before either of our schedules change again."

It’s like all the air has been sucked out of the room. Bucky has no time to plan, no time for finesse, he has to stop Steve from leaving but he doesn’t know how. He vaults to his feet and races to throw himself in Steve’s path, blocking the door way. Only half aware of how insane he must look, arms spread, eyes wild, “No you can’t! You can't go!”

“What, why?”

“You just can’t!”

Steve’s frowning at him but Bucky can’t let him past, “Her hair’s too blonde Steve! So blonde! You could be mistaken for siblings! It'll be awkward!"

Steve looks incredulous, "Mistaken for siblings? Bucky wha..."

He interrupts Steve's protest frantically, "C'mon Stevie you don’t even like blondes, think about Stark, think about Peggy. Dark hair Steve, dark!"

“Bucky?”

“She wasn’t even your neighbour, she was an agent assigned to watch you!"

“Bucky…”

“It’ll be a relationship based on lies Steve!”

“Bucky!”

He paused, his chest heaving with emotion. Steve slowly moved forward and placed his hands on his shoulders, running his thumb back and forwards gently on the join of metal and flesh, “Talk to me Buck, what is all this about?"

He’s got nothing, all his excuses and arguments have dived for cover in the far recesses of his mind. He tries to speak but he can’t so after a moment of deliberation he just throws himself forward into Steve’s space and presses their lips together in a fierce kiss.

When he moves back, which is not far because Steve has gone catatonic and his hold on Bucky’s shoulders is rigid, he looks for some kind of gauge on how Steve has received this turn of events. The Asset is analysing Steve’s heart and breathing rate, the tension and flickers of movement in his muscles and the emotion dancing in his eyes, trying to anticipate a response.

The information is still being processed when Steve moves, pulling him into a crushing hug. He hides his face in the crook of Bucky’s neck and mumbles his words into his skin, “What took you so damn long Barnes?”

“You knew?”

“Yeah.”

“When?”

“When I was supposed to be meeting Sharon but 56 pigeons ‘mysteriously' found their way into our apartment and instead we had to spend the next 3 hours getting them out…”

“Oh.”

“Yup.”

“Does Sharon know?”

“I think she has some idea.”

“Why?”

“At the wake, when she suggested going out on a date together, she asked if she’d be stepping on anyones toes.”

“Uh.”

“Mhmm.”

“Punk.”

“Jerk.”

With that Bucky tips Steve’s head back so he can kiss him, sliding his tongue over his lower lip and into his mouth. Steve’s groan sets his blood on fire and things get a little crazy after that.  
Crazy enough that the next morning the first thing Steve does is collect all the scraps of torn clothes scattered through the hallway and comes back into his bedroom to dump it all on Bucky's face.

The sound of laughter chases away any lingering grief the past has left behind, and paves the way for a new day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter I added is the infamous pigeon incident!


	2. The Pigeon Incident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I'd finally add in the infamous pigeon incident for the amusement of anyone who happens upon this.  
> Maybe I'll continue a few one shots of Bucky's other 'date disruptions' if there is any interest.  
> Love to all.

He sits on the balcony, on the stool wedged into the corner of the two walls. This vantage point allows him to have a view without any exposure to his back, the stool has a pillowed seating pad of soft pastel purple, his favourite colour. The wood is painted with an assortment of babushka dolls, hand-painted by Steve.   
Steve, who had made this stool just for him because Bucky didn't like chairs when he'd first come home. He liked to be able to pull his feet up into an almost crouch, 'like the gargoyles on churches' Steve had teased him when they were still kids, unstained by blood and war.

The babushka dolls had struck him when he'd first been presented with the stool, he'd stared at Steve eyes wide, wondering how he could possibly have known. Steve had given him an embarrassed smile, twisting his mouth up in one corner so that it dimpled, "I saw the babushka doll Natasha gave you Buck, when I was putting some fresh laundry in your cupboard."

It had been Bucky's turn to blush at the thought of Steve finding the little bed he'd fashioned out of one of his sweaters for the doll to sleep in, "Oh."

They'd stood in silence for a full minute, both just looking at this stool tucked into the corner of the balcony.

Bucky broke the moment with a quiet "Thank you", unable to keep the slight quiver from his voice.

Steve had lifted a hand to grip his forearm, the forearm of his metal arm, and smiled, "My pleasure Buck."

Yeah, he was so screwed, so completely in love with his best friend. Bucky shook his head at himself.   
The same best friend who for the past couple of months had been trying to get something going with Sharon Carter. He shuddered, she was a pale imitation of her Aunt, he knew that was vindictive thought to have but he couldn't keep his self-invented codename for the calamity from being 'Operation Imitation Game', anymore than he could keep from breathing. That was why he was out here at 3am in the first place, Steve had a date with Sharon later today and he didn't know what to do.

There was only one thing for it.

He pulled out the phone Steve had given him (on behalf of Stark) from his pocket, his finger lightly stroking over the Captain America stickers Tony Stark had insisted on adorning it with, he opened his contacts and scrolled to 'Babushka' that had a little skull emoji next to it and hit call.

Natasha answered on the second ring, " _да cолнышко моё_?"

Some of the tension in his chest eased at the sound of her voice, " _Маленький паук, I need your help, I need a diversion, distracting, random, maximum duration of fix-up required_."

There was silence on the other end of the line, then, " _Is this anything to do with Operation Imitation Game_?"

He sighed, " _It has everything to do with it_."

Another pause, " _You're in New York. Pigeons_."

Then she hung up.

He stared at his phone, and then back out at 21st century Brooklyn, "Right. Pigeons."

 

***

 

At 5am he texted two more contacts, 'Birdbrain' and 'Hot Coco'. Clint and Sam responded quickly which he appreciated.

 **Grandpa:**   _Need help._

 **Birdbrain:** _Y? R u ok?_

**Hot Coco:** _Barnes this better be an emergency, I need my beauty sleep in order to maintain the codename Hot Coco or I'll become lukewarm, sad coco and no one wants that._

**Grandpa:**   _O.I.G_

**Hot Coco:** _Oh for the love of..._

**Birdbrain:**   _Yes! I <3 O.I.G! Tlk 2 me Grandpa wat u need?_

 **Grandpa:**   _Pigeons. Lots of them._

 **Birdbrain:**   _I got u fam._

**Hot Coco:** _There are no words..._

**Birdbrain:**   _Aw sure there r, they r: I AM IN!_

**Hot Coco:** _....._

**Grandpa:**   _?_

**Hot Coco:** _I'm in._

 

***

 

Clint and Sam stood outside the door to the apartment, looking slightly dishevelled. Clint was smiling happily, holding what remained of a loaf of bread, Sam was shaking his head, "Man I don't get you guys. Surely with your history you could just sit down and have a nice NORMAL heart to heart about all this?"

Bucky shook his head, "No this is the only way."

Sam raised an eyebrow, "I feel it would reflect poorly on my life's work at the VA if I didn't at least try to correct on you that."

Clint slapped a hand on Sam's shoulder, "Aw well who cares, what's done is done and now we've gotta roll before the big man gets home. Don't wanna compromise O.I.G this far in do we?"

Sam sighed and allowed Clint to steer him away from the apartment with bribes of coffee and doughnuts.

Bucky turned and went back inside, closing the door behind him and surveyed the chaos of their apartment with a wry smile. There were pigeons everywhere, approximately 56 according to Clint. Steve was out for a mid-morning run, Bucky had known he'd be gone longer than usual to get rid of some of his nerves before his lunch date with Carter Jr. He also knew it was a lunch date because she had to fly out late afternoon/early evening to go "someplace" top secret to do "something" censored.

He pulled out his phone.

 **Grandpa:**   _Stevie...we got a problem._

 **Grandma:**   _What is it? What's wrong? Are you alright?_

Bucky swallowed his guilt.

 **Grandpa** :  _Pigeons Steve. So many pigeons. I don't know where they came from...Idon'tknowwhattodo_

 **Grandma** :  _Don't worry I'm nearly home. Stay calm._

Bucky sighed, he'd never been calmer.

 

***

 ( _2 hours later_ )

 “Fuck!”

“Broom me Stevie! Quick!”

“Take that you fluffy bastard!”

“Duck Buck!”

“That ain’t funny Stevie.”

“No duck!”

"Shit!"

   ( _4 hours later_ )

"Get outta here!"

Steve turfed the last pigeon out the window and slumped against the wall, "Wow, who knew pigeons could be so damned difficult to wrangle..."

Bucky grinned at him, "Yeah, I think the goddamned Nazi's were easier."

Steve tipped his head back and laughed and Bucky felt his grin grow another couple of impossible inches, then he sighed and looked at his watch, Bucky's smile faded, "Everything ok Stevie?"

Steve's mouth twisted, "I was meant to meet Sharon for lunch but I had to text her to cancel and now it looks like we won't have time before she ships out."

Bucky battled with the warring sensations of guilt, elation,shame and smugness, "Oh...I'm sorry slugger, it's all my fault...I shoulda just called Wilson or Stark or someone and they coulda helped me..."

It wasn't his most heartfelt performance and for a moment he thought he saw one of Steve's eyebrows flicker upwards before he waved his hand, "Nah it's alright Buck, I wouldn't have left you on your own to deal with it, it's our apartment after all."

Bucky fought to control the quiver in his heart at Steve's protest over their shared ownership of this safe space they called home, "Yeah, yeah ok, thanks pal."

Steve smiled at him and it felt like being caught in the full line of the sun, "Well we better get all the crap of off everything."

"Yeah lets do it."

"But first your hand."

"My hand?"

"Yup, look at it Buck, those little feathered demons did a number on you."

Bucky looked down to see an array of claw marks and places he's been pecked on his one vulnerable human hand, "Oh."

"C'mon."

Steve led him over to the counter and proceeded to pull an excessive amount of medical supplies out of the cupboard, “Be realistic Stevie, I don’t need all that for a couple of scratches…”

“Shut your face Barnes, they’re pigeons and you ain’t getting’ scabies on my watch.”

“Punk.”

“Jerk.”

He watched as Steve carefully disinfected his hand and then smiled as he tenderly bandaged it, feeling the light touch of his fingers in places far removed from his hand. He’d never felt happier.

(Operation Imitation Game: Pigeon Incident - Success.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Russian translations:
> 
> да cолнышко моё? - Yes my sun?
> 
> Маленький паук - Little spider.


End file.
